all right. good evening, everyone, i'm don lemon you're in the cnn newsroom. the next 48 hours may be critical in determining which direction israel's going to take in its conflict with hamas militants. despite 30,000 israeli troops massed at the gaza border and tough talk from both sides, there's still a chance for diplomacy. but time is running out. today was the deadliest day yet. israel says it lobbed 130 rockets into gaza, and some reports say up to 29 palestinians were killed today alone, including ten members of the same family.

on the other side of the border, air sirens screamed out in several cities. israel says it intercepted dozens of the nearly 150 rockets hamas fired, including two targeted at tel aviv. their shelling is intense on both sides. cnn's anderson cooper witnessed it firsthand. he's been reporting live from gaza city and earlier i was on the air with anderson when a massive explosion took place nearby. watch what happened. >> in that blast we know ten members of one family, also two media centers -- whoa. that was a rather large explosion. that occurred, look out here, i can't actually see where the impact of that was. it's actually set off a number of car alarms. but that was probably the largest explosion that we've heard just in the past, really in the past hour. there've been a numb beof explosions the past hour or two.

but that one was pretty loud. we actually -- the rockets continue to be fired from gaza toward israel, about three or four hours ago there was actually a quite large rocket that was fired very close to -- went very close to the building where we are right now. you mentioned a tightly packed city, 1.7 million people, and you know, people living right on top of each other, and so kind of echoes ricochet off buildings. so unless you actually see where it landed it's hard to get a sense of what part of the city was actually hit. >> anderson, talk to us about what people are telling you as you speak to them. >> you know, look, there's a lot of fear. people are bone tired. you know, this has been going on for days now. there's this constant sound of the drones. it is a -- you know, it is a very eerie feeling. a very strange feeling. the city appears, you know, very deserted, although as arwa damon pointed out people have nowhere else to go. they're all still here, they're

just hiding inside. people are rarely going outside of their apartments except when they absolutely have to to try to get food or cooking oil or any kind of supplies they need. but shops are shut down. stores are shut down. you don't see a lot of people walking around the streets. and at night it's completely deserted. and people are out driving, driving very, very fast through the streets. but it's a very tricky time of the night to be going anywhere. >> that was earlier tonight on cnn. make sure you join anderson monday night, 8:00 eastern, again at 10:00 eastern for a special edition of "ac 360" live from gaza city. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he is prepared to significantly escalate military operations if the rockets coming from gaza don't stop falling. chief political anchor wolf blitzer has more on israel's iron dome defense system. >> the iron dome is really a very successful program so far. it's only been in business now for a little bit more than a year, but the israelis have come up with this anti-missile,

anti-rocket system where they get word of what's coming in and they launch these -- this iron dome goes into action, and if the rocket or the missile is aimed at a populated area, city or strategic target, or a significant political target, it can go up and knock down and destroy that rocket or missile in midair. sort of like the old patriot anti-missile system as a lot of us were familiar with in u.s. wars over the past couple of decades. but this is designed for short-range rockets and missiles, if you will. and so far it's had about a 90% success rate. they've been using it pretty successfully. problem is, it's sort of 1,000 rockets and missiles that have come into israel from gaza since last wednesday when this crisis really escalated. every time they get word of a rocket or missile coming in the sirens go off in the towns and the villages, and the people have to rush to air raid shelters or to bunkers,

stairwells, wherever they can go. and it's causing a lot of terror out there. the israelis say they're not going to tolerate it a whole lot longer. so that's the problem right now from the israelis' perspective. they're going in there with their air strikes, going after targets in gaza, but there are plenty of civilians who have been killed in the process in gaza, because it's such a heavily populated area. some of those rockets and missiles are launched from populated areas, and you get these tragic results in the process. >> mm-hmm. and we have seen the videos of people fleeing and when they hear those sirens running off, just trying anything they can do to get to safety. everyone wants this not to escalate. so let's talk about the possibility of a cease-fire and what you're hearing from your sources. >> i think that there's intense international efforts under way. the president of the united states is deeply sloughed with this. he's speaking with the leaders of egypt. he's hoping that the government of qatar, of turkey, all of whom have good relations with hamas

in gaza, that they can convince hamas to stop the launching of these rockets and missiles into israel. if they stop the israelis will stop their strikes against them and then they can begin, hopefully down the road, to achieve some long range solution that's going to be very, very difficult, as all of us know. but the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, convened his cabinet here in jerusalem today. he made it clear in a public statement that if the rockets keep coming in, the israelis have already stood on standby 75,000 ground forces, reservists, 30,000 of them already have been activated during training exercises not far from gaza. and they'll go in, as brutal and as ugly and as horrendous as that might be. they might go in. they don't want to do that because it will cause an enormous amount of pain all around and the israelis have had a relatively poor experience in gaza four years ago. they had a bad experience in lebanon in 2006 when they went

in. they don't want to do it. but the prime minister thinks he may have no choice. my own gut tells me, don, the next 48 hours, 72 hours will be critical and i say there's a 50/50 chance of a diplomatic cease-fire. >> wolf blitzer, thank you. be sure to join wolf blitzer monday 4:00 p.m. eastern for "the situation room" live from jerusalem. peace efforts under way to stop the violence. egypt has been working to reinstate a cease-fire. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon will arrive in cairo for talks tomorrow and arab league foreign ministers are set to visit gaza on tuesday. but both israelis and palestinians say the solution must come from the other side. >> we are trying to drive home the message to hamas that they cannot shoot at israeli civilians, try to kill israeli civilians with impunity and we've been able to reduce to a remarkable extent the amount of civilian casualties on their side.

compare that to what hamas is doing to us. they're trying to maximize the number of israeli civilians they kill. that's the difference between a terrorist organization and a democratic country. >> i think, the ambassador knows that it was israel who provoked hamas by taking arms with one of the commanders on wednesday. they knew that hamas and other actions in the gaza strip would retaliate, so they also are to be blamed for this escalation in the violence between the gaza strip and israel. it's time for the united states and the international community to force and pressure israel to lift the siege, and that, i believe, will lead to putting an end. >> meanwhile, palestinians mahmoud hamas is calling on arab league leaders to hold a summit as soon as possible. president barack obama is in asia at this hour. but, not everyone is happy about his latest stop. the important political figure he is about to meet, some people

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all right. you're looking at pictures now, the first pictures that we're getting in. this is courtesy reuters. the president arriving in myanmar. air force one, in a moment the door will open, and the president will get off the airplane and walk down the tarmac to meet with leaders there. president barack obama in myanmar as part of his three-day trip to asia. again, these pictures are just coming in. first time a sitting u.s. president visited the pacific rim. long ruled by a repressive

military regime. and you can better believe there's a bit of controversy with this one. cnn's dan lothian traveling with the president. joining us now. live from the capital city of yangon. so, dan, how is the president responding to criticism over this visit? >> reporter: well, you know, obviously the president pushing back on this criticism saying that, you know, if you were to wait around for this country to have a perfect democracy, you might end up waiting a long time. so to that end, the president will be arriving here and as you pointed out and will be meeting with two important figures in this country on this long road to democracy. first of all, thein sein who is the newly elected president, then aung san suu kyi who is the nobel prize winning opposition leader who was freed from house arrest to run for parliament. but this is a very delicate balance here. not only for the people in this country but also for the u.s. involvement in this process.

because as i pointed out, there is a lot of concern that the presidential visit comes a little too early because there are still human rights concerns here. there is still violence and this country still has a long way to go. but as i pointed out, the president pushed back on that during a press conference last night. >> this is not an endorsement of the burmese government. this is an acknowledgement that there is a process under way inside that country. that even a year and a half, two years ago nobody foresaw. >> reporter: now, president obama is expected to draw parallels between the struggles that african-americans face in the united states and ongoing struggles in this country. in excerpts from prepared remarks that the white house released just a short time ago,

the president expected to say, quote, i stand before you today as president of the most powerful nation on earth, with a heritage that would have once denied me the right to vote. so i believe deeply that this country can transcend. its differences. don? >> dan, as we are looking again, as you are up here, with looking at air force one at the airport in myanmar. they are getting the steps in order so the president can deplane there. i'll ask ask you a couple questions as we watch this. does the administration see a real change in myanmar's government in recent years or is this wishful thinking? >> well, look, there clearly is change here. they do see change. but it's not, as they call it, they're not coming here to celebrate how far they have come on this road to democracy. there are small steps that have been taken and they have rewarded action with action. first of all, when the u.s. announced that secretary clinton would be coming here to visit, remember she came at the end of last year, some political

prisoners were released. you had these elections, parliamentary elections. another award from the u.s. they opened an embassy. have an ambassador here, as well. so they point out there are these little steps that this country has taken and that the u.s. has rewarded them, but at the same time, there is a long way to go. no one believes this country put behind it some of these struggles of the past. the president saying, that by coming here it will provide some encouragement on that long road to democracy. don? >> dan, i'm being informed that pictures we were looking at were indeed live. we weren't sure because we weren't in control of the pictures. but again, the president leaving. just real quick as we look at this, talk to me a little bit more about the trip. aung san suu kyi, she encouraged this trip. >> she really did and remember, she also went to washington back in september and met with the president.

very much wanted the president to come here. because, as you know, there's only one first time that the president can come here, and that is a very strong signal to the people of this country, of the u.s. seriousness and engagement in this country. and you know, we were talking earlier off camera with you about the acceptance, the embrace that we saw after landing here a short time ago, thousands of schoolchildren lined the roadway leading away from the airport. they were chanting, waving flags. this country, many in this country see a real opportunity and the united states sees what's happening here as a model for other countries like north korea. if they do take steps, they do get engaged in some sort of action that u.s. will get involved as well in doing things like dropping sanctions. we have seen them drop some of the tough sanctions here, easing on those sanctions. those are things that north koreans can experience. >> dan lothian, thank you very much.

dan, we appreciate your reporting. the president getting off the plane soon there in myanmar. first trip for the american president to the myanmar. the escalating conflict between israel and gaza moving to another dimension, as the fighting continues, both sides are turning to cyberspace.

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down at the international desk where the pictures have been coming in nonstop for this israel/hamas conflict. including the social media. josh levs is here at the international desk. >> the social media war that's going on, simultaneously with the fighting, and gaza, militants in gaza. has been really incredible. we're seeing a new phenomenon. we will start off with the computer. i'll show you some videos. we have been following the latest here at the international desk coming in from twitter feeds.

this is the militant wing of hamas. this is one of the latest pictures they have put on twitter a few hours back, talking about an israeli massacre occurring in gaza today. you can see a lot of pictures coming through. lately a lot of pictures they have put up have been like this one. this is a man we reported on. the hamas military's leader in gaz gaza. this one says, his blood will be a curse on israel's military and political leaders. that's the message they put up along with that one. there is another picture of him. on the idf twitter site, lots of posts. they keep coming, coming, coming. this is one of the pictures the idf has tweeted, a photo of israeli children around parents sleeping in a bomb shelter. this is one of the examples of the places in which people have developed the shelters because they've been living under the threat of rocket attacks for so long. also in the israel defense forces using a lot of youtube.

we are seeing them put out lots of videos throughout the day. this is an example of one saying this is a recap of what happened on the fifth day of fighting. i want to show you a couple of videos that have been getting a lot of traction. a lot of people watch them on social media that take you inside. let's take the first one first. this takes you inside one of the sites today that was bombed in gaza. this is one the media centers in gaza. this video takes us way inside, don. you can see devastation, a lot of the destruction, that happened there. another video from israel, getting a lot of traffic today is this. take a look. >> this is channel 2. what you are seeing is one of the interceptors from israel's iron dome program, meeting a rocket from gaza that was fired into an area near tel aviv. something interesting to note, one of the ones that was intercepted then failed. the interceptor met the rocket

and it fell and injured someone in the greater tel aviv area. another case israel is reporting a lot of success in these efforts. we have a second before you go. i want to tell what amazing pictures, slices of life on both sides. gaza and israel. they have got them up here, cnn.com. if our photographer, dave, will zoom in for a second for me. these photos are really powerful, really amazing. this is a woman grieving in gaza over last relatives. relatives that were killed. this is a car hit by a rocket in southern israel today fired from gaza. these are some kids taking shelter or lying down during the air sirens in israel. and these are kids walking around in an area hit inside gaza. so kids in the conflict, really powerful images. >> absolutely. you're talking about that iron dome defense system. it's been working very well. but it, too, can be overwhelmed. >> oh, sure. thank you very much, josh. civilians living in fear as israeli forces battle hamas militants across the border. innocent civilians being caught in the cross fire. ñç@rño

israel says its rockets are aimed at military targets but gaza is a dense city with nearly 2 million residents. there has been collateral damage, of course. at least 76 palestinians, 20 of them children, have been killed since wednesday. more than 600 people wounded. images of the damage, stunning. you can see it right there. the video we're going to show you next is graphic. so be warned. okay, here we go. these are images of civilians, wounded in air strikes on gaza city. you can see children among the injured. elsewhere in gaza today, rescuers pulled the bodies of a baby, two children, and an elderly woman from the ruins of a house. at least 10 members of the same family were killed. an israeli military spokesman says a senior member of hamas was the target but it's not clear whether he was killed. arwa damon visited the site. >> reporter: the large slab of concrete and mangled metal

finally gives way. buried beneath it, another lifeless body. the second child we've seen. there was also a baby. others in the neighborhood say the blast killed all ten people who lived here. israel says it was targeting a man who heads a rocket launch unit. people we spoke to said they never heard of him. this was a family home. people here are telling us that so far those who have been killed in this strike have been women and children. and they have not been able to find any survivors. just moments ago, from that back corner, they did pull out the body of a tiny child. an over here there's another frantic effort under way. tempers easily flare as frustration and anger mount. she's my uncle's wife, this young man shouts. rage coupled with sorrow etched across his face. this is where she lived.

her elderly body finally dug up and carried away. there are no air raid sirens or bunkers in gaza. this strike came with no warning. the rescue efforts are not always so hopeless. not far from here, just the day before, 11-month-old amed and his 4-year-old sister, both survived a multiple missile strike on their home. when the roof collapsed it somehow formed a protective arch over us, the children's mother says. for about 45 minutes i thought i was going to suffocate. my leg was stuck. people could hear me screaming but they couldn't do anything, she tells us. in between cries, fears that her children were dead. this is what the building looks like now.

the rubble that was cleared to save the family of ten, piled back into the lot that was their home. i will never forget what happened, she says. i will die imagining it. i can't believe it. i can't believe these are my children. i tell myself, they are not my children. i can't imagine how they survived. i feel like i'm not myself. i can't believe that i am alive, talking to you, breathing. she tells us she wants revenge. but more than that, she wants peace. she says, there is no good that comes with war. arwa damon, cnn, gaza city. >> and the victims of this conflict aren't just in gaza. the constant threat of rockets as people in israel are on edge. their stories, ahead. ordinary rubs don't always work on my arthritis.

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we have been talking about casualties inside gaza. across the border in israel, officials say the persistent rocket attacks prompted their air offensive against hamas haven't let up. in ashkelon just north of gaza, israeli authorities say at least 120 rockets have been aimed at

them today. cnn had to take cover when he was out on assignment earlier. >> reporter: crews working on the ground, that seems to be indeed part of the rocket that has landed here. but people here spend most of their days indoors. there's another attack -- there's another rocket alert going on right now. we've got to get out of here! >> israel's iron dome missile defense system knocked down scores of rockets but life in israel is far from normal. here again, fred pleitgen. >> don, there was a lot going on in the ashkelon area today. especially a lot of air alarms going on. we woke up this morning and the first thing we saw when we looked out our hotel window is that a rocket had hit in downtown ashkelon. really went exactly the same way since then. we went to the scene of the first air strike. there was another air alarm while we were there. he had to take cover. and it continued exactly that way. now the israeli government says there were at least 120 rockets fired out of gaza into this area

in israel throughout the day. of course, one of the things that the israelis have here is the iron dome missile defense system. i was on the scene of one of these missile defense batteries, and it was in action the entrier time. you could hear it fire off rockets, see it fire off rock rockets. there was one instance where we were actually taking cover from a possible rocket strike and we could see it intercept seven or eight rockets at once, only about 200 yards above our heads. now of course, all of this is taking a heavy toll on the population that lives in this area here. especially in the town of ashkelon. the people here are concerned. they are trying to leave their houses as little as possible, venture out as little as possible. and also keep their children inside. it is also something taking a psychological toll. of course, especially on the littlest ones. the mayor of ashkelon told me a couple of days ago that he believes that commerce here in this town is down by about 80%. and you can see that. the streets are absolutely empty here in the evenings. normally people go out at night.

they go to bars. they have their beer in the open. now of course, that is not having at all. the people that we're speaking to here say yes, they support the military operation that's going on, but they also hope it will end very soon. don? >> all right, fred, thank you very much. of course there's always politics here in the u.s. mitt romney's excuse for losing the election triggered outrage. romney suggested that president obama gave huge gifts to african-americans, to hispanics and to young voters. up next, we'll hear from a senior contributor who says romney's gift remark is accurate. eóoç=ñp

5:39 in the morning. in gaza city. you're looking at live pictures now. this is from palestine tv. also live pictures you will see in a moment from reuters. of a city that probably did not get much sleep, preparing for the week and preparing for another day. it is going to be tough the next 48 hours. critical in this conflict between hamas and israel right now. live pictures from gaza city. on to politics now. what a bizarre gift. mitt romney blamed his election loss on gifts. romney suggested that he lost because president obama offered gifts to african-americans, to hispanics, to young voters. gifts like health care,

like contraception, and student loans. even republicans pounced on romney. newt gingrich says romney's comment is quote nuts. governor bobby jindal says the remark insulted voters' intelligence. romney's, quote gifts, fallout led to verbal fireworks when i talked earlier with cnn contributors will cain and l.z. granderson. >> when you look at mitt romney's comments, first of all, you can say it's not very sportsmanlike. you just lost and now you're saying all the reasons that you lost -- >> drinking the hateraid, that's what it is. >> right, right. however, though, i say this as well, what mitt romney had to say wasn't inaccurate. it wasn't politically advantageous but the democratic party has been -- >> wait, wait, wait, wait. >> did you just say it wasn't inaccurate? >> it wasn't inaccurate? what are you talking about? >> first of all, i think your guys two reactions is just outstanding. just amazing. yes, i was saying that --

>> i think your lack of reaction is amazing. >> all right. i'm a little taken aback by the chorus of surprise. i really am. for both of you guys. yes his statement is accurate. the democratic party has been crafting policies that are tailor-made for various constituencies. whether or not that breaks you up by gender, age, ethnicity, absolutely those policies have been crafted to win over votes and appeal -- appeal to every demographic. >> isn't that the point of an election, will? i see where you are going with this, but that's the point of the election. that is a winning strategy. if the republicans had done it on their side, that would be a winning strategy. >> great. that's an awesome political analysis but i'm talking about governance here and what is a better way to govern. if you want to win elections, it's absolutely wonderful to pander to every single group you can hope to get -- >> hold on. hold on. l.s., i'll let you handle this. >> i will -- >> governing means governing all of the people, no matter what demographic it is.

whether it be black, white, women, straight, gooi -- >> excuse me, wouldn't that mean -- >> so if someone is tailoring their message for one group or another, that's what they should be doing. that's what a leader of the free world should be doing. >> that's amazing contradiction you just said within two sentences of yourself, don. if you are governing for everyone then why would you craft policies that only apply to some people. >> that's not what you said. you said what he said is correct -- >> here's the situation -- here's the deal -- >> you're right, i did say that. i think you need to rationalize these things. >> listen, will, president obama is not handing out gifts. all right. he is being a president. now the only thing i found really consistent with this is that romney has been essentially hating up half the country for almost two years. i didn't necessarily find his comments out of line with everything else he has talked about. we have been characterizing them as gaffes. i've been trying to say this is who he really is. he really believes half the country is a bunch of moochers.

i think what's really interesting is if you strip away all the areas, the urban areas that are predominantly minority, right, he still lost a whole bunch of white people, too. the man is refusing to take personal responsibility, which is the height of irony when you think about what he talked about 47% of the people not being responsible for their own lives. here, he lost an election mostly because of the fact that he was a bad option. the gop knows he was a bad option. that's why they fought him so hard during the primary. because he was a bad choice. but they ended up with him. reluctantly had to get behind him. what you see now are the chickens coming home to roost. >> i know you got to run. i know you got to run. >> we got to go. >> there's so many things -- >> i love you, will. i just cannot believe you said what he said was accurate. >> i can. >> what he said was the height of insulting. it was so insulting, and so condescending -- >> let me make a suggestion. >> hold on.

and to say that. it's just insuddening to a whole bunch of people. i can can't believe you would even think that way. >> let me make a suggestion. since you know me and you happen know the kind of statement i make, let me explain them. i know you have to run them to the next thing but i can assure you that what i said is highly logical and makes sense. >> it is highly logical and makes sense to you and -- is this like the numbers and polls all made sense if you are doing some fuzzy math. hit doesn't make sense. >> now you're lumping me in with people that didn't believe the polls. >> and it is insulting. >> tough love. thank you, guys. >> that went on forever. i could not shut them up. all right, thanks, guys. coming up -- chilling sounds of sirens as the fighting between israel and gaza intensifies with neither side showing any signs of letting up. but first, this. the fiscal cliff hits at the end of the year and washington is scrambling to find a solution. in this week's mastering your

money cnn's ali velshi takes a look at the president's plan and what kind of compromise we can expect to see worked out with republicans. >> joining me is mohammed el area, the ceo at pimco one of the world's largest investors in global bonds. welcome back to the show. you say taxes will and should go up for wealthy. you predict republicans in your words will shout and scream but ultimately they will go along with the tax hike for the sake of avoiding an economic disaster. that's the president, not republicans, that blinked in 2010. why do you think the republicans will back down now? >> i think it is different this time around. first, nobody wants to go over the fiscal cliff. this implies a recession and implies unemployment going up. and it implies us shooting our self in the foot at a time when the global environment is much more difficult. see what's happening in europe in the middle east, in china. second, you just had an election, ali, and the message,

one of the messages of the election was one of shared responsibility, and fairer burden sharing. and it's a period in which the rich have done extremely well. not just on the outside but also in terms of being protected on the downside. finally and importantly, the economic arguments against this while they will be valid at higher tax rates are not valid here. if you look at the hand that president has, it is stronger than the republican and i think both of them will want it see some sort of compromise.

as rockets continue to fly between israel and gaza, the human toll is rising. israel officials say the iron dome defense system has knocked down scores of missiles. but at least three people have been killed and 68 wounded. and gaza no such system exists and air raids sirens are uncommon. there, 76 people have been killed and more than 600 injured. among the dead, two young palestinian children. a rocket smashed their home, while they slept beside their father. cnn visited the family. >> reporter: this is the result of a blast so powerful, a boulder sized chunk of the road below hurled through the roof of this two story home. inside, signs children slept here. where was the baby? the babies were under the rubble here and here, sleeping with their father over here. suddenly the house collapsed.

the brother ran to them. he found them under this rock, she says. relatives say a 2-year-old and 4-year-old were crushed to death. their father is still alive. the children's aunt shows us around. there's blood on this boulder and dirt weighs down on everything in the room. mourning in an apartment below, we find the children's 22-year-old mother. i am in shock. i don't believe it. my two children. they are priceless to me. my life is now very difficult, she says. she says an air strike hit just outside her home about 1:30 in the morning. when we arrive, huge piles of dirt are being moved around by a bulldozer. the neighbors say it is filling the crater left by the strike. a few streets away, in the same neighborhood, it looks like the aftermath of a strong earthquake. but residents say this also was the result of an air strike.

you look to your left, destruction. people picking out things that anything they can find, and if you look to your right, destruction. the building next to it blown out. and we are standing on what was the roof of a three-story building. in the street below, the man in green holds his head in astonishment. he says, he had a warning the strike was coming. but felt powerless. the idf called us. they warned us at first. we didn't believe them. then they hit us with a small rocket on the roof. ten minutes after that, they hit the house, he says. by then, everybody in his house had evacuated with no time to rescue their belongs. 15 of his neighbors were wounded. but no one died here. the israeli military says there

were a hundred-plus air strikes in a 24-hour period. but could not confirm that it was responsible for either hit. in a neighborhood, it says it known for launching rockets towards israel. we ourselves saw rockets blasting from the area, leaving a trail of smoke over the neighborhood mosque. long after the rockets and bombardment stops, citizens on both sides will be left with the scars of war. cnn, gaza city. >> millions of you will travel for thanksgiving, but no one will rack up more miles than sunita williams did to get home for the holiday. well tell you about her journey after the break.

♪ the gospel choir had parishioners on their feet, singing, hands raised, waving. an inspirational scene playing out at many black churches on any given sunday. but this is harlem, new york. take a second look at the congregation and you'll see the black church here, changing. >> it is very inspiring and definitely i would come back. yeah, why not. >> no pictures, no video, because you don't want it interrupt anyone's worship. sfl tourists, many europeans, have been packing the pews of harlem churches in increasing numbers. michael henry adams specializes in harlem's history. >> i thought of it initially as something bad, but i say, i

realize, it is to be able to know each other better and to learn more about each other. there is nothing bad in that. >> what is happening in the pews is not just white tourism. it may be a reflection of something greater. >> do you see the identity of harlem changing or shifting? >> i think demographically you would have to see that there is a change. the harlem of my youth, when i would come to harlem, doesn't look the same. >> statistics show hispanics and whites outpacing the numbers of blacks moving into harlem. >> you can no longer make the assumption that all persons who are nonafrican-americans, who are white, were tourists. just like anyone else, there were persons who lived in the community, came here to the community, and wanted to find a place to have a transformative encounter with god. >> the changing face in harlem, still being moved by the age-old gospel. jason carol, cnn, new york. >> go harlem. go harlem.

soledad o'brien examines provocative questions about skin color, discrimination and race in our new documentary "who is black in america?" premieres sunday, december 9th, only on cnn. big fan of harlem. here are other stories we are watching tonight for you. after 127 days in space, astronaut sunita williams is back on earth. williams along with astronauts from japan and russia landed couldn't in kazakhstan. the trio spent most of the past four months aboard the international space station. during the trip she broke the women's record for time spent space-walking. she clocked 50 hours and 40 minutes. vice president joe biden was in new jersey, visiting areas destroyed by superstorm sandy. biden visited a volunteer fire department in seaside heights. meeting first responders who lost their homes in the storm. he talked about his personal connection to the region and pledged long-term help. during superstorm sandy, new jersey governor

chris christie was firm about the importance of evacuating and unhappy with those who stayed in harm's way. christie stopped by saturday night live last night for a self-parody of his hard-nosed communication style. he dished out some hard jabs, including to those of us in the media. >> i'd also like to not thank the following. i do not thank any of the stupid mayors who ignored mie vac use rules. you're idiots! and when you ignore me, it makes you look like a real seth myers. >> oh, come on! >> i'm speaking here. >> all right. >> i also do not want to thank the reporters that put themselves in danger, you know, by walking into the middle of the hurricane with their cameras. we don't need you to tell us there's a hurricane. we have windows! and finally, i do not want to thank the people who are getting in screaming matches at gas stations over the long lines. look, i get it, screaming at people at gas stations is a new jersey tradition. but, you don't do it during a crisis. there will be plenty of time for